Pakistan's Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry today initiated suo motu proceedings against his son Arsalan Iftikhar following allegations in the media that he was paid up to Rs 400 million by a real estate tycoon to influence cases in the apex court.

A three-judge bench led by the Chief Justice began hearing the matter this morning.

The Pakistani capital had been abuzz with reports of improper links between the Chief Justice's son and Malik Riaz Hussain, the real estate tycoon and one of the country's richest men.

The apex court took suo moto notice of the issue late last night after several TV news channels reported the alleged links between Iftikhar and Hussain.

During the proceedings, Attorney General Irfan Qadir objected to the Chief Justice's inclusion in the bench, saying it amounted to conflict of interest.

The Chief Justice took note of the Attorney General's objection and pledged that anyone, including his son, who affected the dignity of the apex court would not be spared.

The Chief Justice said if allegations against his son were proved true, he would be punished in accordance with the law.

The Chief Justice directed the parties involved in the case to produce evidence in the court by tomorrow.

A statement issued by the Supreme Court said it had taken note of reports on various TV channels about an alleged business deal between Hussain and Iftikhar "with a view to influence the judicial process".

"It is reported that the said Malik Riaz Hussain paid 300-400 million rupees to Arsalan and also sponsored his foreign visits.

A whispering campaign of financial wrong-doing by Arsalan Mohammad Chaudhry, the son of Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, has blown up into a full-fledged political scandal that is threatening to fracture the strained relationships between the judiciary on the one hand and the government and military on the other.

The code of conduct of judges as detailed by the CJP himself in 2009 clearly states that a judge may not hear cases in which a potential conflict of interest may arise. But the CJP has stated that this is a special case requiring his personal adjudication.He quoted verses from the Quran to prove that a father is not responsible for the acts of omission and commission of his adult children. Consequently, the debate veered away from the cold corpus of law and constitution to the passionate interpretations of the Quran and Hadith and the CJP placed a copy of the Quran on his desk in order to shape public perception of the rights and wrongs of the case.

The military establishment has been smarting against the CJP since he started to ask hard questions of the role of the military agencies in strife-torn FATA and Balochistan where hundreds have died or disappeared. The military is not used to civilian or judicial accountability in any aspect of its work. The generals would like the CJP to back off or get lost. They would have a powerful motive to embarrass and weaken the CJP or provoke a revolt against him inside and outside the SC via exactly such a scandal through the aegis of Malik.

The PPP government would also like to see the back of the CJP. The regime has been hounded by the judges for the last three years and risks losing its president and prime minister at the altar of SC interventionism. Clashes between the government and the SC erupt every week.

If any such clash were to lead to constitutional gridlock - the chances of which are rising by the day - the military would get an excuse to step into the fray and sweep aside both of them in the "national interest". Certainly, by comparison with the pristine and secretive military, the civilians in the executive, judiciary and opposition are all reeking of bad odour in light of the current scandal.

Currently, the media and opposition are naturally arrayed behind the CJP. All manner of constitutional and political somersaults are being made in order to heap blame on the PPP and military and belittle the charges against Chaudhry Jr and delink them from the CJP. In a sense, supporters of the CJP have launched a pre-emptive strike to protect their chief from the fallout of the evidence against his son when it surfaces. But there is no certainty they will succeed in their mission once the documents see the light of day and shock people into asking hard questions.

Which judge will take the suo moto notice against his own son's crime.Such ideal judges exists only in bollywood movie for indians.

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yeah right....and do u really think he will a just verdict to imprison his own blood...?? and that suo motto acceptance is a ploy to himself hear the case and give his son a lighter sentence then he deserves...!! this only happens in bollywood and pakistan....

Which judge will take the suo moto notice against his own son's crime.Such ideal judges exists only in bollywood movie for indians.

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You are such a shameless breed that you Pakistanis can use anything and everything which even goes against you to rant against India, even when every single soul is 'Chor' thief in your lands including your CJ who was well aware of his son's lavish life style he earned because of favours he did to his son's scamester boss.

If it wasn't the obvious legal jurisprudence driven criticism Chief justice of Pakistan have to do (not some thing gracious of him) of Frontier Core commanders who are involved in genocide of Baluchistan people this scandal might not have been out in public domain at all.

All of them (including the kaptaan) are swearing by the holy Qura'an that they are innocent and the others are lying. It is indeed a circus out there. I am surprised none of them have been declared Waaji-bull-cutlet fr this blatant disrespect.

All of them (including the kaptaan) are swearing by the holy Qura'an that they are innocent and the others are lying. It is indeed a circus out there. I am surprised none of them have been declared Waaji-bull-cutlet fr this blatant disrespect.